Automatic Total readjustment
 

Hi all,

I've seen a number of different threads that have comments to the effect that certain schools are really unlikely to have any COB because all the chapters made quota or quota-plus and are at total. I would like to know what GreekChatters know about campus adoption of the NPC recommendation (which is really more of a requirement if you read the MOI) to do automatic total readjustment within 72 hours of bid day. As far as I know, the campus I advise is adopting this and will be adjusting to average chapter size. I'm honestly thrilled about this because total should have been raised last year to be in accordance with any of the methods outline in the MOI but some chapters were hesitant for a few reasons. This year should be much better.

Any info you have on how this will be handled at other schools would be appreciated!

For reference:
 

From the 2014 MOI

Personally, I am against automatically adjusting total. I feel like, and have seen, it cause the big to get bigger and the small to shut down.

I believe total should not be adjusted more than every other year. This gives chapters who are below total time to COB without competition from the larger chapters.


Honestly the only time it makes sense to me to follow AAT is when everyone is above total already but half the groups are considerably bigger and the other half are fairly comparable in size.

I understand what you're saying. From what I've seen here, when there's a chapter that is struggling WAY down below the other chapters in numbers, it doesn't matter if they are 50 members smaller or 100 members smaller; keeping total at 150 where it's been forever isn't going to help them. And if they DO have a really rockin rush and can make up a good chunk of that difference, holding total artificially low means they can't catch up as far as they might otherwise. Let's say total is 150 but most of the chapters are really at 200. And the small chapter is at 100. They have a FANTASTIC rush and get to 150. They are now at total and can't do anything to get to the 200 that the others have because they have met total. They might feel better that they achieved that goal, but they have their hands tied against achieving actual parity. And we've seen chapters double their size twice in 2 years, so this is an actual problem a really motivated chapter can encounter.

RFM works when you use the entire program, including adjusting total annually to reflect the real numbers in play. At some point that will mean adjusting total downward, which will probably freak people out, but will keep the madness under control when the bubble inevitably bursts. Without a history of annual adjustments, people will freak out at the change.

The other advantage of reevaluating total every year is that it means about half of the chapters would be eligible for COB each year. This increases the opportunities for upperclassman to pledge, and it reduces any stigma about COB if its not always the same one or two chapters doing COB.

That doesn't mean that a chapter that needs to get 24 COBs when everyone else needs 3 or 4 is not still going to have problems, but it gives them a chance to catch up

Was there not previous GC discussion as to whether this downward adjustment should already have begun at a few schools?

Not that I've seen, but I'm sure there are schools that need it. Not everyone is in an upward trajectory EVERY YEAR.

DubaiSis, you have outlined the exact scenario that the campus I advise has going on. My chapter was much smaller (like about 40% less) than the other two chapters for years. The other two chapters have not done COB in many years - probably at least 8. My chapter has made great strides in the last few semesters with recruitment. We have about 15-20% fewer members than the other chapters right now and are looking at potentially our largest formal recruitment ever this year. If total is not automatically adjusted and the other chapters are once again hesitant to raise it, we will be in a situation where all chapters are above total, but we still have about 15% fewer people. And the worst part is that nobody would have the option to join thru COB. That's not the best for Greek life on our campus in my opinion.

This is why I think when everyone's above total already it has it's place.



What I've seen happen is the chapter that is at 100 gets to a number after bid day that, if nothing changes, they could have a legit shot at hitting total by end of year through COB. But when total is shifted several stronger recruiting chapters become eligible and essentially "steal" the pool. (Yes, I know not really.)

My thing is that PNMs that are interested enough in greek life to consider the WRC could easily be attracted to one of the SRC. If they didn't have the other options they may have been happy to join the WRC and helped lead to its long term success.

If girls are avoiding the WRC like the plague it's not fair to keep the total down for too long, I get that. But again, I think every other year seems reasonable as a balance.



eta: Does anyone have a copy of the MOI prior to 2009? I would have sworn that back in the day NPC discouraged annual adjustments, which is why I was shocked when I came across it for the first time (before 2009).

My question is around how often this actually happens in practice. This relies on two assumptions, the truth of which probably varies wildly from campus to campus:

1) The SRC actually goes out and COBs. I know most groups want their chapters at total, but a second pledge class takes time and resources to pull off. Is a 200-member chapter that has no problem filling its house really going out to grab 5 more women when total is raised to 205?

2) The SRC and WRC are pulling from the same pool. I guess if there are a lot of women who are interested in COB, and notify the GL office, which forwards them along to the chapters, this is a problem. But if the chapters are COBing their friends and campus acquaintances, the PNM's are not looking at and comparing multiple chapters.

This is when you contact your NPC Area Adviser. She can convince them to do it.

Our NPC Area Adviser is all about it. We have one chapter that is resisting doing this but the Greek Life office supports it and I'm quite sure this will come out in the wash.

Queen D - When I've seen the AAT implemented, it wasn't a few more members for the SRC it was more like 20-50. That times 4-5 chapters means the WRC who was within 50 girls of the original total (and could have made a significant dent in their deficit via COB right after formal and a Spring COB) is now behind the 8 ball again.

You are right that it varies from school to school. Which is why it should not be a mandate but more of a "Hey, if the numbers are right do it right after formal." recommendation sort of thing.

Yeah, it seems like maybe doing it in the semester that does NOT include formal recruitment could be a good idea, too. That would mean women who didn't maximize and went bidless or whatever would have a chance to look at the WRC or wait until the next semester when total *might* be adjusted and the SRC *might* be COBing.

The scenario we are looking at for my university this year is one where we are all almost 100% certain to be above total after formal recruitment, but one chapter will have about 15 members fewer than the largest chapter. (This is not a campus with chapter sizes in the 200-300 range, think more like 85-95). The odds of AAT causing 50+ member disparities is pretty darn low here.

In that case, it sounds like it definitely should be done. The smallest chapter needs the wiggle room to recruit more members and possibly take a second pledge class.

I'm concerned it will increase dirty rushing. A chapter tells a woman to drop from formal recruitment because they know they'll have more spots in a few days and can offer a bid through COR.

You are all missing the point that average chapter size is not the only acceptable formula. Alabama is adjusting to average chapter size minus 5%. There are various methods and if one favors all the most, then that's the one that should be used. And if the College PH doesn't see it that way, the NPC Area Adviser should be contacted along with the NPC delegates for each chapter on that campus.

So, I was thinking about this and I'm confused about one thing...

So, a campus finishes up with formal recruitment and is excited about their new pledge class. Total is readjusted. ABC is now under total and has to COB...

Does ABC COB during the fall semester, to get to total? In which case are they taking a two-tier pledge class? In the sense that 50 new members pledged on bid day (in August), they're PC14, then 12 more new members were pledged via COB on October 30th, now they're a part of PC14, or they're PC14.5?

Logistically, how does it work? If you're forced to COB in the same semester that FR happens, are they tiered pledge classes (as described above PC14 and PC14.5)? How does initiation work? Does everyone get initiated at the same time because it would be a logistical nightmare for a chapter to plan two different initiations in the same semester (especially for larger chapters, thinking of my own as a frame of reference, total somewhere between 150-200)? If they all get initiated at the same time how can it be justified to the girls who pledged during formal recruitment that the COB pledge class has a new member period 1/2 of theirs, and that the same expectations are not placed on those girls? Does than cause resentment and add to COB stigma?

Or, does ABC have to COB during the off semester? Where everything is normal, you just have a new pledge class during the non-formal recruitment semester. In which case, what was the purpose of NPC changing the rule that total MUST be adjusted 72 hours after bid day? Shouldn't it be instead at the end of the semester (December, after finals and winter graduation, for example)?

The auto reset was designed so chapters and NPC member groups can make it work however it works best for them. We know that in general (of course not always) on many campuses the best chance of successful COB is right away following FR. The excitement of bid day, new members talking with other non greek friends, etc. As the semester goes on it can be more difficult for some chapters on some campuses to gain parity. Again, not alway and not on every campus.

In the old resolution, the Panhellenic was to reset as soon as possible BUT since the CPH checked in w their Area Advisor and the chapters checked in with their folks (HQ, Volunteers, however they do it in XYZ), the actual vote may not have happened until 2+++++ weeks after bid day. By then you just lose momentum.

With the auto reset, if a chapter wants to wait until next semester, fine. If they want to add in new members and initiate all together or even twice in the fall because it works with their new member process, great! Whatever works for the chapter and the HQ.

Don't forget some chapters may not participate in COB/may not be required to pledge to total. That's up to each chapter and HQ to determine.

And don't forget, it doesn't have to be average chapter size. There are options so that each campus can do what suits them best. And it's up tp the individual chapter and their national organization whether they COB then or later.

They can do it whenever works out for them. If they only need to pick up a few women, they can do that in a week or two and catch them up to the existing class easily. If they need a large number of women, they can wait until January and then pick up enough women to cover December graduations also. I think my earlier post probably made it sound like I'm not for it- I actually am. I just tend to think about all the pros and cons and that was a con that hadn't been mentioned yet. I have several chapters that regularly do three new member classes a year, staggered with some overlap.

Yeah, picking up a handful of members is often a matter of telling your NM's to invite their roommates and stuff over to lunch.

Ideal situation is that any COB happens ASAP and the newer NMs are only 7-10 days behind the others. The newer NMs can have a makeup meeting if they missed any required NM meetings. There may be a need for a second pledge pinning but everyone initiates at the same time.

The chapter I advise has done it a couple of ways. When I first started with them, they were COB-ing ALL.THE.TIME. and running 2 new member classes and 2 initiations per semester for most semesters. This was because they thought this was the best way to meet national expectations, but it got in the way of other sorority objectives. We now are taking a different approach, which works something like this:

We will start COB as soon as total is reset after formal recruitment. (We are experiencing a delay on this due to the holiday weekend and a couple other things, but will have our new total soon and are holding recruitment events in preparation of the ability to issue bids)

We have specific date after which the opportunity to add to to the current new member class will close. It's fairly short - about 2 weeks. Once this window closes, the chapter will still do some recruitment activities but will downshift for a while. Our efforts will kick up again later in the fall semester and then the chapter will do a big push very early in the semester to get more women. Then we will run a spring new member class.

This approach worked fairly well last year and we hope it will this year as well. :)

I think one of the common mistakes chapters make is to try to repeats of formal recruitment for COR. Having a sisterhood? Have sisters invite their friends to it. Game night? Invite a few friends. Philanthropy event? Invite a few friends. Like DBB, invite women over for meals. When chapters try to do big formal recruitment events over and over, month after month, they totally burn out.

Like I said, I had just thought about it and was confused as to how it would all work. I was primarily thinking of a semi-substantial amount of COBs (greater than 10 or so) I suppose and/or a substantial gap between the new members received during FR and then if COB had to happen in the same semester.

As someone mentioned in a different thread, one campus adjusted total following bid day and supposedly 5 of the 7 chapters on that campus need to COB to reach total, and a new group is in the process of colonizing. I don't see how that's the right decision in that instance...?

Also, I feel like regularly having 3 new member classes or running 2 new members classes at the same time would be exhausting!

Yes, for the love of all that's holy. Some women are attracted to COB BECAUSE it's not theme parties and such. Don't disappoint them by having them walk into name tag and balloon land. The more relaxed the sisterhood is, the more receptive to the idea of membership PNMs will be.

G & Q - it's all in what you're used to and like I said in the other thread, some of the pledge programs are set up with movable modules to give wiggle room.

I had a dinner with my alumnae chapter a couple weeks ago. We started talking about the different types of recruitment systems we each went through at our respective schools, and we discussed why we decided to go Greek. At one point I said, "If I went to one of these huge schools with intense/competitive recruitments, I probably never would have joined any sorority," and a few others piped up (our national president included) and agreed, saying they never would have either.

Even at schools with huge recruitment systems, there are girls on campus who don't even know they want to be in a sorority. Or perhaps they do, but they don't thrive in the type of environment that formal recruitment creates, so they shy away from Greek life altogether. Those are the women that COB was built for. There are great potential members walking all over campuses across the country, but they never attempt to join because the chants, hair-flipping, and skits freak them out. And hey, let's be honest: sometimes those things even freak out the girls going through formal who have been prepping for it their whole lives.

I'm with you. I can think of nothing that says "stay away" more than a door completely packed with women looking out, but that's me. I was not in the least upset when daughter chose not to rush at Texas; though I had no clue what Texas rush was like, the rush booklet turned me off.

Perhaps that is why this column speaks to me so strongly. To me, it's the perfect COB technique, though I'm nearly certain it wouldn't bring in 20 or 30 a semester.

If I may chime in....

You have to realize that most girls who go to Texas and rush have been prepared for it since birth, and they come from strong GLO families, so they know what to expect.

FYI - there is a lot of grooming that goes on in the South. You get groomed to join the "right" sorority, join the "right" social group like Junior League, find the "right" husband, live in the "right" neighborhood, and the list goes on.....

Yes, but what about the girls who go to Texas and don't rush? That's the point we're trying to make: there is a huge amount of untapped potential walking around on college campuses, but with girls lined up at the door to join, the thousands and thousands of others are overlooked.

ETA: and the crazy door chants don't help :p

Of course every campus is different, but having to COB is not the worst thing that could happen (as long as total is readjusted properly, all chapters stay strong, and COB is done the "right" way).

By the way, love this idea. So simple!

I understand your point.

The same is true for the NPHC. Before the current MIP (membership intake process), there were aspects to joining that were just strange, some might even say a bit inhumane. But, if you were already aware then some of that pledging process was just part of becoming a member.

I think where the argument may fall apart today is there is so much information available online that it is best to do your research before going.

However, the big competitive recruitments can be seen as a rite of passage. So, members who join by just hanging out informally may deal with resentment from members who had to endure the ups and downs of FR. The FR experience is sort of a common bond.

Hazing before the fact, you might say.

Can a campus Panhellenic ever decide they do not want to adjust total and vote for expansion instead? Or is adjusting total an automatic?

I would hope that as long as they show that they're going to be an active member ESPECIALLY during rush that there wouldn't be any long-term ostracism or anything. I do agree that even if you joined outside of formal rush, you still need to learn how to do it well. I'm betting there are lots of girls who are terrified of FR when it's the first thing they see on campus - but after a year and membership in a group, it's not so scary and something they might even excel at.

That would be something they would have to discuss with their NPC Area Adviser and the individual NPC Delegates for the chapters on their campus.